The use of mobile Internet services in SA has “exploded”, though less than half of urban cellphone users who have Internet-capable phones use the Internet, according to new research from World Wide Worx.

A new reseach report, released on Thursday, shows that use of specific applications such as MXit and Facebook Mobile far outpace browsing on the phone, even though both are available on almost two-thirds of the phones used by SA’s urban cellular users.

Though 28% of the urban cellular market is using mobile instant messaging (IM), as many as 65% have the capacity on their phones, meaning that only 4,5m of 10,5m potential mobile IM users actually use it.

In many cases, an application has been installed on the phone, and the owner may even have registered to use the service, but is not in fact a user.

And, while 60% of users in this market have phones that can browse the Internet, only 21% report that they use this form of mobile Internet access.

World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck says it is “quite startling” how many people have these features on their phones but don’t use them, either out of ignorance or because of cost concerns.

The findings suggest, on the surface, that more than half of urban cellular users, or 8,5m people, are capable of accessing e-mail on their phones, and as many as 60%, or 9,5m, are able to browse on their phones.

The implications of these numbers are significant: in one fell swoop, they would turn the SA Internet user base from the 5,3m reported by World Wide Worx at the end of 2009 to 9,6m. Add IM to the mix and the total comes 10,5m — double that of the Internet user base at the end of last year.

The World Wide Worx study was conducted face to face among urban cellphone users aged 16 and older. — Staff reporter, TechCentral